


unlikely orbits

by DrowningInStarlight



Category: NeoScum (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Fluff, Gen, Pack Family, Werewolf AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:42:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28461852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrowningInStarlight/pseuds/DrowningInStarlight
Summary: The full moon's rising.
Relationships: Pox & Dak Rambo & Tech Wizard | Squirt Purpler & Zenith
Kudos: 5





	unlikely orbits

**Author's Note:**

> happy new year!

There’s still a few hours before moonrise, but Zenith is restless. 

He knows the others are too. He’s in Pox and Dak’s apartment, curled up on one corner of their couch. Tech and Pox are on the other side, and Pox currently has her tongue poking out between her teeth in concentration as she focuses very hard on trying to beat Zenith in Super Smash Bros. She’s definitely putting more effort into the game than Z is, but he’s holding his own. She’s sitting between Tech’s knees, and he leans forwards occasionally to cheer them on, resting his chin on Pox’s shoulder, before leaning back and staring up at the ceiling again. Pox throws her head back and rests it on Tech’s chest whenever Zenith defeats her, laughing.

Really, they’re just killing time, until Dak gets home, until the moon rises. He knows that, and knows that the only thing they can do is wait. Still, he can’t help drumming his fingers on the arm of the sofa as they watch a loading screen. He feels feverish. 

Tech shoots him a sideways look. “You good, dude?” he asks. There’s a little silver reflecting in his eyes which Zenith knows isn’t normally there. 

“Yeah,” Zenith breathes. “Just… I really fucking hate the full moon.” 

“Mm,” Tech says, looking sympathetic. Zenith knows that Tech has also had more than his fair share of rough changes over the years. It’s hard to not notice the bitter shame that still surfaces occasionally on his face. Zenith can relate to that. The only reason that Tech had stopped hiding himself away and Zenith had stopped running for long enough to catch his breath is the man who’s currently working, supposed to be on his way home. 

Pox starts drumming her fingers on Tech’s leg in a matching rhythm to Zenith’s. She’d been living half feral quite comfortably for a while, and it still sometimes shows. The only reason she isn’t still doing that is, of course, Dak Rambo. 

It almost makes Zenith want to laugh. Here’s the thing, right— Dak Rambo has run with a hundred packs. He could run with a hundred more, and yet, _and yet._ For some reason, he’s chosen to stay with Pox, Tech and Zenith. 

When they’d arranged themselves on this couch, Zenith had been deliberate in leaving himself space. It’s hard to tell sometimes, how much of his distance is his actual preference, and how much is just self defense mechanisms that are so deeply ingrained that breaking them feels unthinkable. Now, though, Tech’s still looking at him, soft and worried, and he holds out his arm. After a moment, Zenith goes, shuffling over and letting Tech put an arm over his shoulders. Weirdly, it does kind of help. The silver hooks of the moon’s pull that tug at him, making him feel uneasy in his own skin, are equaled out by the grounding presences of two of his best friends in the whole world. 

He wonders if it works that way for them, too. If his presence could possibly be a comfort. He almost asks, but then Pox flops across onto his lap, abandoning the controller to Tech. She stares up at him and says “I love you, Z.” 

“Love you too,” he says, instinctively. It’s the truth. Of course it is. This is his _pack,_ and that’s kind of a weird thought, but it’s undeniably true. 

“Did Dak tell you what time he’d be home?” Tech says, scrabbling around the sofa cushions for his phone, and Zenith can feel his anxiety. 

“No,” he says, “But it’ll be soon. Not like he can work when the moon’s up.” 

“There are definitely people into that,” Pox points out. 

Zenith concedes that point. “But he wouldn’t—” 

“—Leave us,” Tech finishes, and Zenith knows he’s right. Dak knows how they get, each of them all fucked up about the full moon in their own, individual way. Besides, all three of them know how much Dak hates changing alone. That’s the point of a pack. A family. It’s not just you alone against the world anymore. 

“Wanna rematch?” Pox asks, claiming back the controller from Tech, who hadn’t been doing anything more than hold it, and clambering off Z and back in between Tech’s knees. 

“Sure,” Zenith says. Everything feels like it’s in sharp focus, sounds and smells overwhelming, but he’s used to that. He’s used to how much everything _hurts._ What he’s not used to, even after the couple of months he’s spent with these guys, is Tech’s warm arm around his shoulders, the way Pox had muted the TV without even thinking about it. The way the apartment smells like _home._

They play three more rounds before Tech sits up behind Pox and says “Dak’s home.” 

The next moment, Zenith also hears Dak’s footsteps up the stairs, and then the sound of the key in the lock of the front door. If it was anyone else, all three of them would be tense and wary right now, but they all recognise Dak even without seeing him. 

They hear him a moment later, as he yells from the hallway. “I’m home! Everyone good?” 

“Hey, Dak!” Zenith calls. “We’re in here!” 

“All good!” Tech adds. It’s true, but there’s an almost palpable sense of relief when Dak’s done taking his jacket and boots off and pads into the living room in his socks. He stops in the doorway for a moment, looking them all piled up on the sofa. 

“Very cosy,” he says. “Room for one more?” 

Pox rolls her eyes. “This is, like, pretty much half your apartment.” 

“Pretty much?” Dak says, as everyone shuffles right to let him sit down on Tech’s other side from Z. “Thought it was a clean fifty fifty.” 

“Well, I took like another two percent while you were out,” Pox explains. Tech huffs a laugh, leaning into Dak’s side a little. Dak smells like he’s just showered, using someone else’s shampoo. He drops a kiss into Tech’s hair, then looks across to Zenith. 

“You okay there, Z?” he asks. 

Zenith shrugs. “Is it too cheesy if I say better now you’re here?” 

“Not if it’s the truth, my man.” 

“Well. That, then, I guess.” 

It’s strange, being part of a pack. But Zenith thinks that he could see himself getting used to it.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr as [drowninginstarlights!](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/drowninginstarlights)


End file.
